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Hagastrand, Autograph Collection, launches spa with Gongmatic experience
POSTED 30 Oct 2025 . BY Helen Andrews
The 15-minute Gongmatic experience marks the concluding step in the spa's three-hour hydrothermal journey Credit: Hagastrand, Autograph Collection
Credit: Nobis Hospitality Group
We wanted the spa to also serve as a cultural destination with a transformative, immersive art installation as part of the guest experience – Alla Sokolova, Nobis Hospitality Group
Hagastrand offers a new kind of immersive gong experience called Gongmatic
Nobis’ wellness expert Alla Sokolova worked on the concept
Inside a 70sq m acoustically-insulated room, a 60-inch self-playing gong is hand-tuned to resonate on its own, without mallets or speakers.
Gong craftsman Madhava Carrara and sound alchemist Margherita
Cioffi teamed up with art technologist Simon Morris to create the self-playing Gongmatic experience
Nobis Hospitality Group’s wellness destination, Hagastrand, Autograph Collection, has launched in Stockholm, Sweden, with an immersive gong experience at its spa.
Hagastrand is a 215-key property that has been designed by Wingårdhs Architects to incorporate Nordic features and create spaces for guests to work, connect and relax simultaneously.
The 2,500sq m Hagastrand Spa has four treatment rooms, a wellness suite for private group experiences and a private spa area with a duo of suites for holistic treatments.
It also has a 60-person capacity event sauna for aufguss rituals, alongside a thermal bathing circuit that includes a snow room by TechnoAlpin Indoor.
Nobis’ wellness expert Alla Sokolova incorporated the installation of a new kind of immersive gong experience called Gongmatic at the Hagastrand Spa as part of the facility’s concept.
Sokolova told Spa Business: “We wanted the spa to also serve as a cultural destination with a transformative, immersive art installation as part of the guest experience. When we discovered Gongmatic, it was clear that it matched our ambition to offer innovative, restorative therapies that are both artistic and meaningful, combining ancient wisdom with modern science and creative application of technology.”
Inside a 70sq m acoustically-insulated room, a 60-inch self-playing gong is hand-tuned to resonate on its own, without mallets or speakers.
Specialist gong manufacturer, Grotto Sonora, has created the Gongmatic experience using customised programmes that combine sound, light and vibrations, tailored to the space.
The 15-minute experience marks the conclusion of a three-hour hydrothermal journey and sees guests reclining on ceramic heated loungers by Sommerhuber, while listening to the hypnotic sounds.
The experience is included in the price of entry to the spa, which costs €110 (US$128, £96) on average.
Sokolova added: “Gongmatic offers deep nervous system recalibration through resonance, helping guests reach profound states of rest and balance in minutes.
“The power of sound is a throughline theme throughout the spa, realised through different touch points and offerings, such as spontaneous concerts and soundscapes curated in the social wellness area and the event sauna,” she added.
Grotto Sonora
Grotto Sonora is a manufacturer of gongs with a permanent installation in a cave in Italy of the same name. Gong craftsman Madhava Carrara and sound alchemist Margherita Cioffi teamed up with art technologist Simon Morris to create the self-playing Gongmatic experience.
Morris, told Spa Business that the partnership with Hagastrand will continue to develop: “Having Gongmatic as a permanent wellness offering at Hagastrand means that it is available to people all year, offering visitors a deep restorative sensory experience. It is a long-term collaboration that allows Gongmatic to evolve, with new compositions and experiences.
Morris added that the company’s goal is to bring Gongmatic into spaces where sound, art and wellbeing intersect, with a permanent flagship location opening in New York later this year.
Hand and Stone Massage and Facial Spa, the spa business with more than 650 locations across
the US and Canada, has appointed franchise expert Carrie Walsh as CEO as the company plans
to expand.
Synergy – The Retreat Show, the global trade show for retreats, has launched a global research
initiative that will provide insights into the retreat sector from both consumer and industry
perspectives.
Contrast therapy, based on the alternation of hot and cold rituals, has become one of the
most valued practices in the fields of wellness and recovery. [more...]
Hagastrand, Autograph Collection, launches spa with Gongmatic experience
POSTED 30 Oct 2025 . BY Helen Andrews
The 15-minute Gongmatic experience marks the concluding step in the spa's three-hour hydrothermal journey Credit: Hagastrand, Autograph Collection
Credit: Nobis Hospitality Group
We wanted the spa to also serve as a cultural destination with a transformative, immersive art installation as part of the guest experience – Alla Sokolova, Nobis Hospitality Group
Hagastrand offers a new kind of immersive gong experience called Gongmatic
Nobis’ wellness expert Alla Sokolova worked on the concept
Inside a 70sq m acoustically-insulated room, a 60-inch self-playing gong is hand-tuned to resonate on its own, without mallets or speakers.
Gong craftsman Madhava Carrara and sound alchemist Margherita
Cioffi teamed up with art technologist Simon Morris to create the self-playing Gongmatic experience
Nobis Hospitality Group’s wellness destination, Hagastrand, Autograph Collection, has launched in Stockholm, Sweden, with an immersive gong experience at its spa.
Hagastrand is a 215-key property that has been designed by Wingårdhs Architects to incorporate Nordic features and create spaces for guests to work, connect and relax simultaneously.
The 2,500sq m Hagastrand Spa has four treatment rooms, a wellness suite for private group experiences and a private spa area with a duo of suites for holistic treatments.
It also has a 60-person capacity event sauna for aufguss rituals, alongside a thermal bathing circuit that includes a snow room by TechnoAlpin Indoor.
Nobis’ wellness expert Alla Sokolova incorporated the installation of a new kind of immersive gong experience called Gongmatic at the Hagastrand Spa as part of the facility’s concept.
Sokolova told Spa Business: “We wanted the spa to also serve as a cultural destination with a transformative, immersive art installation as part of the guest experience. When we discovered Gongmatic, it was clear that it matched our ambition to offer innovative, restorative therapies that are both artistic and meaningful, combining ancient wisdom with modern science and creative application of technology.”
Inside a 70sq m acoustically-insulated room, a 60-inch self-playing gong is hand-tuned to resonate on its own, without mallets or speakers.
Specialist gong manufacturer, Grotto Sonora, has created the Gongmatic experience using customised programmes that combine sound, light and vibrations, tailored to the space.
The 15-minute experience marks the conclusion of a three-hour hydrothermal journey and sees guests reclining on ceramic heated loungers by Sommerhuber, while listening to the hypnotic sounds.
The experience is included in the price of entry to the spa, which costs €110 (US$128, £96) on average.
Sokolova added: “Gongmatic offers deep nervous system recalibration through resonance, helping guests reach profound states of rest and balance in minutes.
“The power of sound is a throughline theme throughout the spa, realised through different touch points and offerings, such as spontaneous concerts and soundscapes curated in the social wellness area and the event sauna,” she added.
Grotto Sonora
Grotto Sonora is a manufacturer of gongs with a permanent installation in a cave in Italy of the same name. Gong craftsman Madhava Carrara and sound alchemist Margherita Cioffi teamed up with art technologist Simon Morris to create the self-playing Gongmatic experience.
Morris, told Spa Business that the partnership with Hagastrand will continue to develop: “Having Gongmatic as a permanent wellness offering at Hagastrand means that it is available to people all year, offering visitors a deep restorative sensory experience. It is a long-term collaboration that allows Gongmatic to evolve, with new compositions and experiences.
Morris added that the company’s goal is to bring Gongmatic into spaces where sound, art and wellbeing intersect, with a permanent flagship location opening in New York later this year.
Hand and Stone Massage and Facial Spa, the spa business with more than 650 locations across
the US and Canada, has appointed franchise expert Carrie Walsh as CEO as the company plans
to expand.
Synergy – The Retreat Show, the global trade show for retreats, has launched a global research
initiative that will provide insights into the retreat sector from both consumer and industry
perspectives.
The Wellness Tourism Association (WTA) has published a non-regulatory global industry
framework designed to ensure the retreat market offers responsible experiences.
A new survey of UK and international spa practitioners shows that stress, burnout and
wellbeing concerns have caused one in three respondents to consider leaving the industry.
Contrast therapy, based on the alternation of hot and cold rituals, has become one of the
most valued practices in the fields of wellness and recovery. [more...]
